All Annual Report

Publications and Others

2018

Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-being For All: Experiences of community health, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition within Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD

Globally, the world faces many health-related challenges, from gaps in health literacy to inadequate health systems. Addressing these issues is complex but achievable, with health education and providing safe learning environments being some of the significant contributors to ensuring healthy lives for individuals and communities. The Education for Sustainable Development Programme at UNU-IAS has worked with Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) worldwide on a series of case studies to showcase their sustainability initiatives in the areas of health, including proximate determinants and drivers of health such as hygiene, sanitation and nutrition. These highlight how collective action at a local level is critical for addressing the health challenges the world faces today, through a participatory approach and multi-stakeholder networking. To download the book click: here

2017

RCE Mentoring Package by RCE Greater Portland

These resources are based on the core details provided on the RCE Network website and discovered through the development process of RCE Greater Portland (aka, the Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network [GPSEN]). Credit for this work is shared with the various mentors, stakeholders, committees, and Board of Directors. We hope that these efforts can help you work through your own core questions and processes. We had many of the same questions when we started. While every RCE is unique, based on its own regional challenges and resources, we hope that these tools will help you not have to recreate the wheel.
Click here to download the book.

2016

Research and Innovation in Education for Sustainable Development

Wim Lambrechts and James Hindson (editors) with contributions by RCE Penang and UNU-IAS on Chapter 4 “Schooling for Education for Sustainable Development: The contributions of Asia-Pacific” based on a survey made by RCE Penang across the Asia-Pacific RCEs (p. 44).

This book is the outcome of the work of Environment and School Initiatives (ENSI), an international network of educational partners, and the European project CoDeS,Collaboration of Schools and Communities for Sustainable Development (2011-2014). The objective of this publication is to provide collaborative experiences in ESD research and innovation. It provides a look back at initiatives during the DESD and an outlook on future possibilities in the field of research and education for sustainable development during the GAP.
Click here to download the book.

2015

World Energy Outlook Special Report 2015: Energy and Climate Change

The world is moving towards a crucial climate change meeting in Paris in December 2015 (COP21). The negotiations there will be based on national pledges, formally known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, with the goal of setting the world on a sustainable path.

The International Energy Agency has long emphasised to its members and the world at large that energy production and use which is not compatible with international environmental requirements is not sustainable: it fails the test of energy security. The IEA, therefore, feels an obligation to make a contribution to COP21 – a contribution which reconciles climate and energy needs. That is the purpose of this special report in the World Energy Outlook series. The full report can be downloaded here.

9th Global RCE Conference Proceedings Booklet

The 9th Global RCE Conference was successfully held in Okayama, Japan (4-7 November 2014). It was a great opportunity to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders – from cities, communities, governments, industry, international organizations, and academia – to discuss, debate and launch activities that reinforce the fundamental role that education plays in achieving a sustainable future worldwide. RCE Okayama hosted the conference. The conference booklet is now online here.

2014

Ten Years of Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development

The global movement of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD (RCEs), having reached a decade of existence and of constantly contributing to change through learning and action, is deserving of a commemorative memento. As the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), upon which the RCE movement was founded and to which it was dedicated, draws to a close, it is also a critical time to look towards the future of the RCE community against the backdrop of the new processes taking shape in sustainable development and education.
This publication is the tale of an extraordinary grassroots movement conceived at the turn of the century and dedicated to the proposition that unless local stakeholders work together to find and implement local solutions to local sustainable development problems, all efforts to translate global sustainable development policy and vision into local realities might be in vain.
This book draws upon earlier analyses and publications as well as recent reflections of the RCEs showing the colourful diversity of organizational cultures and approaches in promoting ESD worldwide. On the other hand, it renders possible the identification of common tendencies and emerging qualities, despite the different cultural, social and economic contexts, target groups and action areas.
Click here to download the English Version.

Sustainable Development and Quality Assurance in Higher Education with Palgrave

Higher education has a central role in helping our world address its interlaced social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges. Our universities and colleges can do this by identifying and testing solutions in collaboration with the regions they serve, and by building the leaders of tomorrow. But to do this higher education institutions (HEIs) must transform themselves, and this involves bringing together best practice in quality management and improvement for tertiary education with best practice in education for sustainable development. This book seeks to provide those interested in addressing this double helix of transformation with tested strategies and pathways for undertaking the journey successfully. Click here to read more.

2013

Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity within Regional Centres of Expertise in ESD

Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) were developed as sites for participatory learning and action within the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), opening up more collaborative and inclusive learning spaces towards more just and sustainable ways of life now and in the future. Some of the contours of these emergent education processes of collaborative learning-to-change as they relate to traditional knowledge (TK) and biodiversity are developing in many RCE contexts today. The Education for Sustainable Development Programme at UNU-IAS has worked with RCEs worldwide to create a new publication showcasing a series of case studies in this regard. To download the book:
click here

African Heritage Knowledge in the Context of Social Innovation and RCEs

Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) were developed as sites for participatory learning and action within the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), opening up more collaborative and inclusive learning spaces towards more just and sustainable ways of life now and in the future. Some of the contours of these emergent education processes of collaborative learning-to-change as they relate to African heritage knowledge in the context of social innovation are developing in many RCE contexts today. The Education for Sustainable Development Programme at UNU-IAS has worked with RCEs across the African continent and in particular southern Africa to create a new publication showcasing a series of case studies in this regard. To download the book click here: UNU_Booklet_MB2013_FINAL_Links_v12.pdf.

2012

Towards Sustainable Livelihoods and Consumption & Production Through ESD

To build a socially just economy and a more sustainable society, our consumption and production systems must become more sustainable -- not only in terms of market growth and resilience, but also in terms of productive non-market relations, ecosystem health, quality of life and the well-being of all involved. The Education for Sustainable Development programme at UNU-IAS has just published a book of case studies, showcasing groundbreaking education for sustainable development (ESD) initiatives that address some of the greatest challenges we face in moving to more sustainable consumption and production systems. They stem from the work of the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE). Please click here to download the book.

2011

Ethical Finance Game

Ethica -The Ethical Finance Game is an educational board and role-play game. It lets players assume the roles of bank customers, investment bankers or co-operative business entrepreneurs with money to save, invest and loan. It explores how well their ethical intentions stand up in the world of international finance. Players visit different banks where they can choose a share investment, cooperative investment or a savings account. Each investment gives the player either a positive or negative financial (Profit), social (People) and environmental (Planet) score. Ethica is designed for between 6 and 27 15+ year old students in schools, colleges and universities as well as youth groups. A promotional leaflet (1.5 Mb), as well as the game components (7 files) are freely downloadable, although the game can also be purchased. The Ethica social networking site also includes teaching ideas, further resources and case studies, video links, teaching plans and follow-up.

Guidebook on Climate Change and Lifestyles

UNESCO/UNEP YouthXchange guidebook on climate change and lifestyles is the first in a series of thematic guidebooks supporting the YouthXchange Initiative. The thematic guidebooks take into account challenges, opportunities, good practices and case studies on global challenges. This new guidebook explores the links between climate change and lifestyles and helps young people consider the actions they might take towards more sustainable lifestyles. Aimed at young people (15-24 year olds) and people working with young people such as educators, teachers, trainers and youth leaders in both developed and developing countries, this guidebook provides scientific, political, economic, social, ethical and cultural perspectives on climate change. The Guidebook (4.3 Mb) and a short promotional leaflet (1.9 Mb) are now downloadable.

Multi-Actor Learning for Sustainable Regional Development: A Handbook of Best Practice

A 3-LENSUS Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development (www.3-lensus.eu) project, involving the Charles University Environment Center, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, the Open University of the Netherlands, the University of Graz, the University of Macedonia, and the RCE Rhine-Meuse produced a best practices book on education for sustainable development that is now available to all. The book contains a series of academic articles on education for sustainable development (ESD) and project case studies exemplifying multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder ESD best practice at a regional level in an array of European Union states. It is designed as a repository of theoretical and methodological approaches to ESD, and as a practical guide to ESD project implementation. You can download a PDF version of the book here or you can buy it for your kindle on Amazon.com.

2010

Five Years of RCEs - English

At the UNU-UNESCO International Conference on Globalisation and Education for Sustainable Development in 2005 which celebrated the Asia-Pacific launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), the United Nations University (UNU) launched the first group of seven RCEs. In five years of development, the RCE community has come a long way. Challenges and struggles bore fruit of discoveries and innovations. This publication shares lessons from RCEs and their partners at the regional and international levels. As of April 2010, there were 75 RCEs worldwide.
Click here to download English version.

Five Years of RCEs - Japanese

At the UNU-UNESCO International Conference on Globalisation and Education for Sustainable Development in 2005 which celebrated the Asia-Pacific launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), the United Nations University (UNU) launched the first group of seven RCEs. In five years of development, the RCE community has come a long way. Challenges and struggles bore fruit of discoveries and innovations. This publication shares lessons from RCEs and their partners at the regional and international levels. As of April 2010, there were 75 RCEs worldwide.
Click here to download Japanese version.